More than hair

Michele Van Fossen is a hairstylist, and she sees her everyday job as a vehicle for healing the people who sit in her chair.

She says of her clients, "I'm wanting to love them for who they are, where they are in that moment, whatever that looks like. That is the person that I've been entrusted with for that half hour or that four hours or whatever. That, I'm called to do something for that person in that time.

"I had a brand new client sit in my chair and the second time I cut his hair, divulged a drinking problem he has. I didn't know this guy for more than 45 minutes and I'm like, "Wow." It's interesting who God put in my chair because there's a history of that. I have a history of that. I didn't have to say anything. I just listened and over the course of our relationship, over the following years, he would ask questions during a haircut. I mean, it's a haircut. When people get real, It enables me to further come alongside of them and that might be what I'm supposed to be here for. That's good enough. I like it when people leave feeling better than when they came in and if they like their hair on top of it, it's kind of a good thing!"

Whatever you do, wherever your work takes you, God has uniquely equipped you to serve and to meet people at their point of need. Through your work, God has the power to redeem broken hearts and hopeless situations. You’re probably a lot like Michele. You can probably tell your own story of the sacredness of your work, and the miraculous ways God transforms the ordinary interactions of your day.

These moments of healing and hope that evolve through the course of any regular day? They are no coincidence. We partner with God as we put our hand to the plough—cultivating the ground beneath our feet, literally and figuratively. We carry the image of the Almighty God with us. When we surrender the work of our hands to his miraculous care, God breaks through, changing us and those we serve, forever, and for good.

Listen to Michele's story in this short video:

How are you envisioning and equipping your congregation to make a difference in their workplaces?